Underground Railroad

A new book, The Underground Railroad in Michigan, by Ann Arbor's Carol Mull, is a comprehensive exploration of abolitionism and the network of escape from slavery in our state. The book includes both an overview of national events and vivid first-person accounts taken from The Signal of Liberty, an 1840s-era abolitionist newspaper published in Ann Arbor, to explore Michigan's role in the antislavery movement. The Signal of Liberty is available for full-text searching and browsing at: http://signalofliberty.aadl.org/.

For an overview of Ann Arbor's role in the Underground Railroad, you can listen to our podcast with Carol from last year or read Grace Shackman's article from the Ann Arbor Observer. You can also take your own walking tour: Start with this plaque on the Broadway Bridge, then make your way to lower Broadway to the former site where the Signal of Liberty was published (across the street from the Anson Brown Building, which today houses the St. Vincent de Paul store), followed by a brief stroll to 1425 Pontiac Trail for a glimpse of Reverend Guy Beckley's home.

Scene from the first Ann Arbor Street Art Fair

In case you hadn't noticed, the Ann Arbor Art Fairs are about to start. This annual event takes over much of downtown Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan campus in late July and covers them with arts, crafts, activities, refreshments, and music. But the art fairs weren't always the juggernaut that they are today; once upon a time even Ann Arbor's biggest event was just a small one.

With the art fairs on my mind, I started combing through the Ann Arbor News files and came up with this: a front page story about the first art fair back in 1960, published 51 years ago today. The article notes that the fair (which was simply an adjunct to the Ann Arbor merchants' Summer Bargain Days) featured work from 100 artists. This year's fairs will feature nearly 1100 artists. We can only hope to draw "large crowds" this year as well, although the last several years have seen over 500,000 attend, so that should fit the bill.

Click read more to see the full article from the Ann Arbor News. To learn more about the beginnings of the art fair and to see photos of the early fairs, take a look at our online exhibit 50 Years of Originality: A History of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair.

pigeonSchool Librarian, John Schumacher travels with a book character each summer. His kids pick the character each year. See where Knuffle Bunny went on vacation! Or, Pigeon, or Scaredy Squirrel.
A List of websites with activities that use grade school Reading skills.
Ms Smith's list of websites that use first grade math skills.
BWEs gardes 3-5 Math.
A List of websites that use higher math skills.
This sites were found in a School Library Journal article written by Lauren Barack.

For those who have questions about the scientific terms used when describing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, also known as the Deepwater Horizon Incident, Gulf of Mexico by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, AccessScience has collected a resource for you.

AccessScience is an online science database and encyclopedia that is available for free through the Ann Arbor District Library. To access this resource please refer to the A-Z Listing of Databases or use this direct link, just use your AADL website login and password.

Money

A major problem facing small business owners today is the difficulty in arranging credit and bank loans to finance ongoing operations. Many financial institutions have been reluctant to lend money at a reasonable rate, if at all.

One retailer, Sam's Club, realizing this situation was impacting their business customer's ability to buy at their stores, has gotten creative. About half of the store's members are small business owners and they account for more than half the revenue at the retailer. As a result of surveying their customer's needs, they will soon start marketing S.B.A. loans of $5,000 to $25,000 for members nationwide. The company that is managing the loans is giving Sam's members a $100 discount on the application fee, and lower interest rates, because of how much business it expects through the arrangement. You can learn about how it works at Sam's Club S.B.A. Program.

The Ann Arbor District Library has many resources designed to help small business owners.

To find potential new business use Reference USA to get detailed information on over 15 million businesses including company size and sales information, stock information, and management biographies. To discover new ways of doing business and up-to-date management techniques use General Business File to find millions of articles on business and finance for analyzing company performance, industry events, and the latest in management, economics, and politics.

Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business, Deduct It!: Lower Your Small Business Taxes, The 7 Irrefutable Rules Of Small Business Growth and The Small Business Start-up Kit are just a small sample of the many books we have devoted to helping the small business owner.

Ever wondered about your family history? Find out about the many genealogical resources available and how to use them this Thursday, May 12, at the Genealogy for Beginners class. This class will be held at the Pittsfield Branch of AADL, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Our staff will show how to use several genealogy databases and databases, including Ancestry and HeritageQuest, provide tips for getting started, and answer your beginning genealogy questions. If you have never conducted genealogical research before and want to know how to get started, then this is the class for you.

lost cow

The classified ads are a window into what's going on in a community. For instance, even though most of the ads on Ann Arbor Craig's List are about lost pets and used things for sale, a post like this gives us hints to the exciting night life that our town has to offer:

Two dimes and a nickle - found (A2)
Date: 2010-04-16, 1:27PM EDT

I found two dimes and a nickle on the sidewalk in front of the Arena last night. If you
lost two dimes and a nickle please contact me, I would be delighted to return
them to you. Please be prepared to identify said coins.

Well, things were no less different in Ann Arbor in the mid-nineteenth century. Do you know about The Signal of Liberty, Ann Arbor's historic abolitionist newspaper. We have the Signal on our website, and it's a great resource for learning about the history of anti-slavery in this area.

BUT, it also includes many classified ads that offer an intriguing look into what Ann Arborites were up to in the 1840's.

Here's one from the September 22, 1841 issue from Michael Puttel.
eliza
Let's hope that Michael and Eliza patched things up.

These two from July 7th and August 4th seem to be 1841's version of a lost pet ad.
lost cows
Lost mares
How does one lost a cow... or multiple horses? These two ads also contain the recurring offer for a free Signal subscription in return for Wood! Wood! Wood!

This ad, also from July 7th but recurring throughout the paper's run, is here simply to beg one question: What is a "smut machine"?
Threshing machine ad

Botanical Gardens

Over the years local historian Grace Shackman has written about the history of gardens and gardening in Ann Arbor. In May 2001, she covered the history of UM's botanical gardens. She also wrote about the history of garden shows in Ann Arbor from 1926-1941; antique plant specialist, Scott Kunst; and Carl Weinberg's famous Peony Garden.

This weekend Matthaei Botanical Gardens holds their 30th Annual Spring Plant Sale and Fundraiser and next weekend, the Dexter Garden Club will offer plants for sale at the gazebo in Dexter's Monument Park.